Fear No Darkness
by Yllyana
Summary: Set in Lord of the Rings. Crossovers with RK, YGO, R , SM. When the Dark Lord Sauron, trying to gain more powerful minions, summoned Death and Darkness, Chaos and Destruction, this was NOT what he was expecting...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien, Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki, Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, and Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. As you may have guessed, I am not one of the aforementioned people.

Author's Note: Constructive criticism is welcome. Opinions will be heard, but not necessarily acted upon. Flames will be ignored.

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Fear No Darkness

Prologue

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_The mightiest and proudest was Ar-Pharazôn the Golden of all those who had wielded the Sceptre of the Sea-Kings since the foundation of Númenor; and three and twenty Kings and Queens had ruled the Númenóreans before, and slept now in their deep tombs under the mount of Meneltarma, lying upon beds of gold._

_And sitting upon his carven throne in the city of Armenelos in the glory of his power, he brooded darkly, thinking of war. For he had learned in Middle-Earth of the strength of the realm of Sauron, and of his hatred of Westernesse. And now there came to him the masters of ships and captains returning out of the East, and they reported that Sauron was putting forth his might, since Ar-Pharazôn had gone back from Middle-Earth, and he was pressing down upon the cities by the coasts; and he had taken now the title of King of Men, and declared his purpose to drive the Númenoréans into the sea, and destroy even Númenor, if that might be._

_Great was the anger of Ar-Pharazôn at these tidings, and he pondered long in secret, his heart was filled with the desire of power unbounded and the sole dominion of his will. And he determined without counsel of the Valar, or the aid of any wisdom but his own, that the title of King of Men he would himself claim, and would compel Sauron to become his vassal and his servant; for in his pride he deemed that no king should ever arise so mighty as to vie with the Heir of Eärendil. Therefore he began in that time to smithy great hoard of weapons, and many ships of war he built and stored them with his arms; and when all was made ready he himself set sail with his host into the East._

_And men saw his sails coming out of the sunset, dyed as with scarlet and gleaming with red and gold, and fear fell upon the dwellers by the coasts, and they fled far away. But the fleet came at last to that place that was called Umbar, where was the mighty haven of the Númenoréans that no hand had wrought. Empty and silent were all the lands about when the King of the Sea marched upon Middle-Earth. For seven days he journeyed with banner and trumpet, and he came to a hill, and he went up, and he set there his pavilion and his throne; and he sat him down in the midst of the land, and the tents of his host were ranged all about him, blue, golden, and white, as a field of tall flowers. Then he sent forth heralds, and he commanded Sauron to come before him and swear to him fealty._

_And Sauron came. Even from his mighty tower of Barad-Dûr, he came, and made no offer to battle. For he perceived that the power and majesty of the Kings of the Sea surpassed all rumour of them, so that he could not trust even the greatest of his servants to withstand them; and he saw not his time yet to work his will with the Dúnedain. And he was crafty, well skilled to gain what he would by subtlety when force might not avail. Therefore he humbled himself before Ar-Pharazôn and smoothed his tongue; and men wondered for all that he seemed fair and wise._

_But Ar-Pharazôn was not yet deceived, and it came into his mind that, for the better keeping of Sauron and of his oaths of fealty, he should be brought to Númenor, there to dwell as a hostage for himself and all his servants in Middle-Earth. To this Sauron assented as one constrained, yet in his secret thought he received it gladly, for it chimed indeed with his desire. And Sauron passed over the sea and looked upon the land of Númenor, and on the city of Armenelos in the days of its glory, and he was astounded; but his heart within was filled the more with envy and hate. (The Silmarillion, p. 333-335, by J.R.R. Tolkien)_

_And unknown to all, and forgotten by Sauron in his haste to corrupt Númenor, a project of Sauron's left untended in the center of his fortress continued to gain power..._

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	2. Chapter 1

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Fear No Darkness

Chapter 1

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While slowly drifting back to consciousness, the only thing Hotaru could sense was evil. It was everywhere, heavy in the air, saturated in the ground, permeating the walls. It was stronger than Mistress 9, stronger than Nehelenia, stronger than Galaxia. She _had_ to get out.

Opening her eyes and slowly levering herself into a sitting position, she noticed three other people lying unconscious in the large room she was in. Ignoring them for a moment, she took in the room, trying to find an exit. Before she could get far, she saw her companions stirring, clearly about to wake themselves.

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/Did someone get the name of that truck?/ Yugi thought groggily.

∕∕Nay, aibou, I fear it was not a truck, but magic which has landed us in this situation. I sense the remnants of an extremely complicated transportation spell,∕∕ Yami replied. ∕∕You must awaken, for this place is truly evil, and we are not safe.∕∕

Since he had just received the mental equivalent of a cold glass of water thrown in his face, Yugi could sense it, too. His eyes snapped open, and he jumped to his feet. Or rather, he _tried_ to jump to his feet--his energy had deserted him, and he barely managed to slowly sit up.

∕∕Easy, aibou. I fear we have been greatly drained by our journey, and we seem to be in no immediate danger. Rest and watch, and we will quickly recover.∕∕

/Okay, Yami,/ Yugi said, before noticing the three other people in the room. He felt momentarily cautious, but they didn't _seem_ dangerous, so...

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Kenshin had regained awareness instantaneously some time ago, but had given no sign of his returned alertness. In a habit retained from his days as a hitokiri, he stretched out his ki, trying to sense how much trouble he was in--for he _was_ in great peril. His danger sense had gone off as soon as he'd awoken.

"Hi, everyone! My name is Mutou Yugi. Nice to meet you!"

Kenshin actually opened his eyes and sat up to stare incredulously at the speaker, for what was such a young and innocent boy doing in this stronghold of darkness? The boy, Yugi, was extremely short, had wide, innocent violet eyes, and had the most unusual hair Kenshin had ever seen--a mix of black, red, and golden hair, formed into spikes. He also noted two other people in the room--a short and...developed...redheaded girl with blue eyes, and an ethereally lovely waif of a girl with black hair and violet eyes. All of them wore outlandish clothing, even compared to the Western clothing slowly becoming popular in Tokyo. _They almost appear to be related to me,_ Kenshin mused, thinking of his own bright red hair, violet eyes, and short stature. _Still, that is no guarantee of peaceful intentions. I need only think of the darkness concealed by Seta Soujirou to know **that**._ However, his own politeness demanded a courteous reply, so he answered, "Hello. I am Himura Kenshin. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"My name is Tomoe Hotaru," said the waif-like girl.

"I'm Saotome Ranma," stated the redhead. "Sorry 'bout this." After a short pause she added, "Do any of you know where we are and how we got here? Cause I haven't got a clue."

Hotaru gave Ranma a searching look, the replied, "I do no know where we are, but I know that it is evil here."

"Well, yeah, but that was obvious," Ranma said.

"I can sense that our arrival was due to a strange teleportation spell," Yugi stated.

Through his own disbelief, Kenshin noted that Hotaru was nodding, as if she'd been expecting that statement, and Ranma was groaning, "Magic. It just _had_ to be magic." Kenshin was forced to use logic to dispel his own skepticism: he could think of no way for him to be transported to such a strange place without being aware of it, and clearly all of his companions found nothing wrong with accepting the possibility of magic. Therefore, however hard it was to accept, magic was probably involved.

"We have to get out of here," Hotaru said. Kenshin could sense fear and a hint of panic in her voice.

"That is, indeed, one of our priorities," Yugi said, his voice sounding strangely deeper than it was earlier. "However, we also must discover our means of arrival, if we hope to return home."

Ranma nodded. "Agreed. But how? I don't know nothin' about magic."

"We should search the room," Kenshin suggested. "If we are here, surely it must be for a reason."

"Good idea," Yugi replied. "Let's split up. We'll each take a side of the room. Look especially for any papers or writing, they might have information on how to reverse the spell." He immediately headed to investigate the right side of the room. Kenshin followed suit, moving to the forward wall.

Searching the tables and other, strange apparatus, he found a great many things that were organic--organs and dismembered body parts to creatures he couldn't imagine. Swallowing his revulsion, he continued, looking always for written papers, until he was interrupted by a crash and a yell behind him.

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"This could only happen to me," Ranma muttered as she desperately tried to dodge the monster that had awakened as she passed. It was twelve feet tall and _ugly_, and it was much faster than it should have been, considering its great size.

Ducking under its arms, she shouted, "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" She sent hundreds of punches to its gut in a few seconds, then jumped back out of range again.

Before she could press her advantage, Kenshin was there. With a cry of "Ryu Sho Sen!" he sent his katana in a devastating uppercut, sending the monster flying.

Using the short respite to take in the position of the rest of her apparent allies, she saw Hotaru raise her hand in the air and call out, "Saturn Eternal Power, Make UP!" There was a short light show, then Hotaru reappeared, wearing what seemed to be Happosai's idea of a girl's school uniform, and holding a massive pole-arm.

Quickly getting over her surprise, she returned her attention to her opponent--after all, she _was_ a resident of Nerima, Weirdness Capital of the World. It had just regained its feet when she saw Yugi raise a...card?...and shout, "Swords of Revealing Light!" True to its name, a number of swords apparently made of light hit the monster and paralyzed it. Then Hotaru stepped forward, raised her pole-arm, and shouted, "Silence Glaive Surprise!" Streams of energy erupted from the end of her weapon, impacted the monster, and destroyed it.

Taking in Kenshin's katana and sword stance, Yugi's deck of cards in his hand that clearly had some sort of power, and Hotaru's change of wardrobe and massive, powerful weapon, Ranma commented, "I guess I wasn't the only one who left a few things out while introducing myself."

-----

Hearing Ranma's matter-of-fact statement, Hotaru giggled. She couldn't help it.

"I would say that's a fair assessment," Yugi replied, a hint of irony in his voice.

"How about we try again?" Ranma replied, clearly deciding to trust them. "I'm Saotome Ranma, heir to the Saotome school of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, and a world class martial artist. I'm really a boy with a curse to turn into a girl whenever I'm hit with cold water, and hot water turns me back. I have three fiancées and a similar number of people trying to kill me, mostly because of my stupid old man, and weird stuff _always_ happens to _me_."

Yugi smiled. "I am Mutou Yugi, also known as the King of Games. I am the world champion of Duel Monsters, an incredibly popular strategy game that is actually based on a game from ancient Egypt that was played then with real magic, called the Shadow Games. I share my body and mind with the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle," he pointed to his puzzle to demonstrate, "who is also an Egyptian Pharaoh who sacrificed his soul to bind a great evil. I call him Yami. We hold power over the Shadow Realm, the source of power of the Shadow Games, enabling us to do many things with my deck."

Kenshin looked a little uneasy at all this talk of magic, but added, "I am Himura Kenshin, the 13th Master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. In my youth I was the Hitokiri Battousai, bringing about a new era of peace and democracy by assassinating a great many people. After the new era was achieved, I became a wanderer and vowed to never again take a human life."

Hotaru decided that if they were trusting her, she could trust them. After all, she didn't sense any evil from _them_. "I am Tomoe Hotaru, also known as Sailor Saturn. I am the reincarnation of a warrior from the Silver Millennium, an empire existing thousands of years ago that spanned the entire solar system. I am the Soldier of Destruction and Rebirth, the most powerful of the Senshi, sworn to the service of the Princess of the Moon, and capable of destroying a planet, at the cost of my own life." Finishing her speech, she was relieved to see that although everyone was shocked by her announcement of her own power, especially Kenshin, no one seemed to be afraid of her now.

"We need to continue our search," Yugi said, "but we should be more cautious. Let's work in pairs--maybe Kenshin and Hotaru, and Ranma and I?"

"Whatever," Ranma replied. "Let's go--I wanna get out of here."

As they moved off to continue their interrupted search, Kenshin approached her. "Shall we, Hotaru-dono?" he asked, smiling gently at her.

Hotaru smiled back. "Yes, let's go," she answered.

-----

Kenshin walked alongside Hotaru as they threaded the maze of black stone tables in the part of the room assigned to them. A part of his mind was fully alert and focused on his surroundings, ready to spring into action the moment he perceived any danger. Another part of his mind was desperately trying to comprehend the many unbelievable revelations he had had since finding himself in this horrifying place. The rest of his mind was trying to search through all the entirely unfamiliar objects on the cold, black tables.

After several more minutes of mild frustration at such a collection of utter alien things, Kenshin finally found something he could recognize--a knife. It was long and thin, with a cold gleam to it, but however reassuring it was to see something familiar, he did not touch it--it _radiated_ a sense of pure, concentrated evil, with overtones of terror and despair.

"Kenshin-san," Hotaru whispered excitedly, "I think we found it!"

Turning his attention to his companion, Kenshin saw that while he had been examining the vile knife, Hotaru had found piles upon piles of paper with writing on them. Taking a closer look at it, he saw that the script contained no hiragana or kanji that he knew--indeed, it was different even from the strange Western 'alphabet'. The script was beautiful and flowing, and seemed extremely out of place in this ominous room.

"I agree, Hotaru-dono. Can you read it?" Kenshin asked.

Hotaru shook her head. "It looks like nothing I've ever seen before," she replied sadly.

Kenshin smiled. "Do not worry, Hotaru-dono. Let us rejoin the others. Perhaps Ranma-dono or Yugi-dono would know how to read it."

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Five minutes later, they were all back in the center of the room, displaying their finds. "So, we have reams of notes in a language no one recognizes, and have discovered that this room has no doors or windows," Yugi concluded. It was very discouraging.

"I could probably knock a hole in the wall," Ranma offered dubiously.

Yugi shook his head. "No, you probably couldn't. The walls are strongly warded and protected, magically." /Yami, could we shadow walk out of here?/

∕∕With no known destination? Such a venture would have to be a measure of last resort, aibou. Also, we couldn't possibly bring them all with us without them being quickly drained.∕∕

Hotaru hesitantly suggested, "I might be able to teleport us all out of here."

"_What?_" Ranma cried. "Then why didn't you say so earlier? Jeez!"

Hotaru looked upset at Ranma's outburst. "Because it is risky, and I don't know if I have enough power," she replied in a small voice.

Ranma looked at Hotaru's woebegone face and said, "Sorry, Hotaru. Didn't mean to make you mad."

"It's okay, Ranma," Hotaru replied, cheering up.

"Would _I_ be able to augment your power with my own, Hotaru?" Yugi asked excitedly.

"Let's try!" she replied with a growing excitement of her own. She reached out and took his hand in hers.

"I can feel it!" Yugi said. /Can we connect with her, Yami? Can we help?/

∕∕I think so, aibou. I shall feed the power of the Millennium Puzzle to you, and you can feed it to her. I think this will work!∕∕

/Let's try, first./ Linking himself to Hotaru, he sent a tendril of the Puzzle's power into her. She gasped, and began to faintly glow.

"How much more power than that do you have?" she asked.

"Many, many times more," Yugi replied cheerfully.

Hotaru smiled delightedly. "Then I think we can do this."

"Yatta!" crowed Ranma.

"I agree," Kenshin said, chuckling. "I am most eager to leave this terrible place." Everyone sobered quickly at this reminder. "How are we to secure the notes we found? Surely we cannot leave them here."

"Yes," Yugi replied. "There's always the chance that we can figure them out later, or maybe we could find someone who knows how to read them."

"Don't worry. I'll just put them in my subspace pocket," Hotaru said.

"Your what?" Ranma replied blankly.

"It's a small pocket dimension connected to my starseed. Every senshi has one," Hotaru explained, causing blank looks to spread. She sighed. "It works like this, okay?" she said, reaching in front of her and pulling an odd looking pen apparently from mid air. She grabbed the notes, made a strange twist of her wrist, and the notes vanished. "Ready to go?" she inquired, clearly quietly enjoying her companions' gob smacked expressions.

That galvanized everyone into motion. "How do we do this?" Ranma asked.

"We must all join hands, and hold each other strongly, in order to all arrive at the same destination," Hotaru explained gravely. "And one of the people I hold must be Yugi, that I may draw on his power."

∕∕Take Hotaru and Ranma's hands, aibou,∕∕ Yami suggested. ∕∕A balance of male and female might aid this endeavor.∕∕

/Okay, Yami,/ Yugi replied, following Yami's advice. /I really hope this works.../

-----

Hotaru closed her eyes and _focused_. She connected herself strongly to Yugi and began to draw power, building up to the level she needed. She also sent tendrils of her power into Ranma and Kenshin, marking them as part of the teleportation spell. Finally reaching the power level she needed, she came to the hard part--finding a destination with no reference points or knowledge of terrain. She cast out her magical senses and tried to find a place that was as _good_ as this place was _evil_. Eventually, at the very edge of her range, she found a place containing a light that rivaled that of her Princess. Gathering all the power she'd built, pulling more to try to reach that distant destination, Hotaru sent herself and her three passengers hurtling towards that light.

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And so it came to pass that mere months after the destruction of Númenor and the triumph of Sauron, four young humans were found unconscious at the foot of Taniquetil, the Holy Mountain of Manwë, King of the Valar.

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	3. Chapter 2

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Fear No Darkness

Chapter 2

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Four young humans lie unconscious in the land of Valinor, unaware of the furor caused by their arrival, oblivious of the personal intervention of Lord Manwë Súlimo to ensure their safety, and entirely ignorant to the passage of time. For the mental link established by Hotaru in their escape had far greater consequences than she knew. Their joint arrival in the dimension holding Middle-Earth had already forged a bond between them; the teleportation link strengthened that previously existing bond _exponentially_.

And so they slept, unable to be awakened, as they shared each others' memories while their souls bonded.

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Four souls and five minds drifted in darkness, until the darkness became an image, and the image became a memory...

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..._Six-year-old Shinta stands next to three large stones in the middle of a field of crosses, graves dug for both fellow slaves, slavers, and bandits with his own two hands. He looks up at the big man who had saved his life the day before. "Shinta is much too sweet name for a warrior. From now on, your name is Kenshin. For you, I will teach something special," the man says..._

..._Kenshin is running at his enemy, despite his many injuries, when his beloved Tomoe runs out and throws herself between them, pushing aside the dagger the man is aiming at him. Unable to pull the blow he had already committed to, Kenshin watches in horror as his sword cuts clean through his wife's body, from her shoulder to the middle of her rib-cage. He barely notices as the tip of his sword also cuts the leader, killing him as well. A dying Tomoe in his lap takes her dagger and cuts into his cheek, completing the cross-shaped scar. Her last words are "Gomen nasai, anata..." and as Kenshin holds her dead body, he knows that he will never again be worthy of happiness..._

..._Kenshin mows through the mob of incompetent brawlers threatening Kaoru-dono, their numbers no match for a practitioner of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. He casually sends the last remaining member of the gang to the police, for them to apprehend the pile of unconscious thugs, and the man is more than scared enough to comply. He turns to Kaoru-dono and apologizes for deceiving her, but as he turns to leave she shouts, "BAKA! Are you just going to leave? Why can't you stay and help me a while? I told you, I don't care about your past!" He looks at her, and sees that she truly accepts him as he is, even as the former Hitokiri Battousai, the legendary assassin..._

..._Kenshin watches as his Master Hiko advances on him, clearly intending to kill him if he can not master the strongest technique in Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, the ougi. He wonders if he actually fears death, for in all of his time as hitokiri, he was prepared to die, and in all his time as a rurouni he thought he was unworthy of living after having killed so many. He realizes, then, that what was blocking him from the ougi was how little he valued his life. If he truly lives his own life, for his own sake, the Ama Kakeru Ryu no Hirameki will flow freely from him, and he will never need to fear the madness of the hitokiri again..._

_-----_

..._Fifteen-year-old Atemu stands still as the crown of Egypt is placed on his head, completing the ceremony making him Pharaoh. Even with the crown and other symbols of the Pharaoh signifying his temporal power, and the Horus symbol on his forehead signifying his magical power, he silently prays to Ra that he will be strong enough to stand against all the challenges ahead..._

..._Atemu looks out at the devastation that covers his land and quails. The Shadow Games, once the cornerstone of Egypt, had gotten out of control, wreaking havoc on both innocent civilians and the countryside, not to mention decimating the ranks of the mages themselves. Seeing first-hand the ruin of his beloved land, he makes his decision. He gathers all his power, first drawing on his magic, then on his life energy, then finally on his very soul's essence. He crafts a spell that will both seal the Shadow Realm, and eliminate all knowledge, both spoken and written, of the Shadow Games, and pours his entire self into the spell. His spell completed, his body lies dead, his soul is sealed into a mystical puzzle of great power, and the land he sacrificed so much for lives on, despite the loss of millennia of culture and progress..._

_-----_

..._Yugi looks down at the box in his hands, a gift from his beloved grandfather. He was small, had no friends, and was a constant target for bullies. As such, games and puzzles had become his refuge. He opens the box, finding the pieces for a gold, three dimensional puzzle of some sort. It looks extremely difficult, but as he looks at it, he picks up two pieces and somehow knows that they will fit together, just so. The same unknown instinct guides his hand again, picking up another piece and fitting it together as well. As he continues, the puzzle gradually takes shape, proving to be an upside down pyramid. After a startlingly short period of time, he's holding the completed puzzle, seeing the symbol of the eye of Horus on the front of the puzzle, and a place to thread a chain through on top, as if the completed puzzle were a pendant. Still in the grips of the strange instinct, Yugi briefly searches his room, finding a thick chain which he threads through the puzzle. He takes the completed puzzle and puts it around his neck. And suddenly, without knowing why, he feels a massive sense of relief, as if something that had been missing his entire life had finally been found, as if he were finally whole..._

..._Yugi watches from a corner of his mind as his dark half Yami, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, duels with Pegasus in a true Shadow Game for his grandfather's soul. Between Pegasus' telepathy gained from the Millennium Eye, the energy drain of the Shadow Realm, and the strain of having to actually magically summon the monsters they dueled with, Yugi and Yami are at a massive disadvantage. Even with the mind shuffling technique to offset Pegasus' telepathy, Yugi is swiftly weakening. He can feel the strong concern for him coming from his dark half, but concern alone can not help him. Just as he is about to surrender to his weakness and fade away, he feels something new--Anzu and Honda, Jounouchi and Ryou, adding their strength to his, guarding him against Pegasus' telepathy. With their aid, he takes control again just long enough to set one final card. He retreats back to his mind and faints, not even seeing Yami use his final card to defeat Pegasus..._

..._Yugi stands on the field of battle as his God Card Obelisk squares off against Malik's God Card Ra. Ra launches an attack capable of destroying Obelisk, but before it hits, Yugi activates another card, sacrificing Obelisk and another of his monsters, Gazelle, summoning the Dark Magician. The card that summons the Dark Magician also permits any two spell caster monsters to destroy any opposing monster. So, with the aid of the previously summoned Dark Magician Girl, the Dark Magician destroys Ra, defeating Malik, and quite possibly saving the world..._

_-----_

..._Six-year-old Ranma lies on the ground, tied up, covered in fish paste, and shivering with fear. His father moans, "Oh, the shame, that my son is such a weak little girl!" He picks Ranma up and tosses him back into the pit of starving cats, shouting, "You'd better learn the neko-ken this time, boy!" And then there are claws and teeth and pain and terror until his mind finally snaps, his last thought before oblivion the utter betrayal he feels..._

..._Ranma jumps from the bamboo pole he is perched on and takes great pleasure in dropkicking his stupid old man into one of the springs below. He is still patting himself on the back when, to his shock, an enormous panda erupts out of the spring he'd kicked his pop into. Taking advantage of his shock, the panda pounds him into a spring as well. Ranma surfaces, and instantly realizes that something is wrong. Examining himself, he quickly realizes that he is no longer a he: 'he' is a girl. Making an intuitive leap, he also realizes that the panda must have been his pop. Staring down at her new breasts, Ranma knows that her idiot father has once again ruined her life..._

..._Ranma studies Saffron, knowing that he is almost out of time to save Akane's life. Saffron is by far the most powerful opponent he has ever faced. Even discounting Saffron's immense power and control over fire, it is extremely difficult to match an enemy who can fly, even for a skilled practitioner of a martial art that specializes in mid-air combat. When you add in Saffron's regenerative abilities, it was almost hopeless. But with the aid of Gekkaja, a magical weapon with power over cold, Ranma devises a desperate plan. And as his modified Hiryu Shoten Ha shatters Saffron into a thousand pieces, killing him instantly, Ranma knows that he will never be the same again..._

_-----_

..._Princess Vesta of Saturn is feeling happy. She is sitting in her class at the Saturn Healers Academy, learning all she can about how best to use her powerful magical gift of healing. She is in the middle of taking notes when the instructor's voice trails off. Puzzled, Vesta looks up, only to see that the instructor and the entire class are staring at her with fear in their eyes. Her confusion quickly turning into panic, she desperately fumbles in her bag and pulls out a small mirror. Looking in it, she sees the symbol of Saturn glowing on her forehead, and her heart stops. She is the new Senshi of Saturn, the Soldier of Destruction, the Bringer of Silence, capable of destroying a planet. And she knows that she will spend the rest of her life being feared..._

..._After delivering her report to the Queen on the status of the outer rim of the galaxy, Sailor Saturn retires to one of the more private gardens on the Moon, hoping to find relaxation. She feels weary, body and soul. Despite having been a Senshi for well over a millennium already, she has not yet grown accustomed to the crushing loneliness she almost constantly lives with. Her duty is a solitary one, filled with patrols of the outer rim of the solar system, with occasional forays into the rest of the galaxy to determine possible threats and current political climates, all of it alone. And everyone she knows fears her power, even her fellow Outer Senshi, with the single exception of Queen Serenity herself, for the House of Serenity holds a power even greater than that of the Senshi of Saturn. She occasionally reflects bitterly on the irony that the Queen is beloved while she is feared, but she knows she would not wish her fate on anyone, especially not the kind and loving Queen Serenity. Lost in her thoughts, she does not notice when another person enters the garden until they begin speaking. "Wow, are you Sailor Saturn? That is **so COOL!**" Looking up, Sailor Saturn sees none other than the heir to the throne, Princess Serenity. "I've never met an Outer Senshi before! Do you want to be friends?" And looking into cheerful and incredibly friendly blue eyes, Sailor Saturn finds herself making her first friendship since becoming a Senshi..._

..._As Saturn teleports to the Moon from her latest patrol of the rest of the galaxy, she had felt that something was wrong, but she had not expected the scene of utter desolation before her. Every plant is dead, every building is broken, and every living creature is **dead**. Falling to her knees, she knows that her Queen, her Princess, and her Kingdom were dead. An indeterminate amount of time later, she regains her senses enough to stretch out her magical senses, and she quickly determines what her Queen had accomplished with the Ginzuishou. Knowing that she has only minutes before being seized by the reincarnation spell, and unable to stand the sight off such ruined beauty, Saturn raises her Silence Glaive and casts her final attack, wiping clean the entire surface of the Moon, leaving only the hidden Moon Palace intact, leaving the rest of the Moon as nothing more than a dead mass of rock..._

_-----_

..._Hotaru watches, a prisoner in her own mind, as the demon controlling her wreaks havoc. She can not break free. She can not save her friends. She can not save herself. She is bound to her own body, a body that will not obey her commands. Escape? Impossible. Attack? Suicidal. She senses something. 'Nooooooo!!!!!!' she screams mentally. The demon has just taken the soul of her best friend. One by one, they fall. Her friends, the only hope of saving the world, until only the Princess was left. And she was obviously faltering. 'That's it,' she thinks wildly. 'I don't care what happens to me, I will NOT let this come to pass. I am the end and the beginning, the only one with the power to destroy the world. I am Sailor Saturn!' She gathers around her all her energy, her power, her very life force, and hurls it at her possessor. The sheer strength of the blast destroys the demon, but at the cost of her life. She can feel the demon evaporating, taking her body with it. She manages only to send her spirit to return her best friend's soul before she dies..._

..._Hotaru lies back, the sun on her face, basking in her absolute contentment. Her new family from after her rebirth, Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Setsuna-mama, are all with her on this picnic in the park. Her best friend, Chibiusa-chan, is there as well. Lying on soft grass, full of good food, and surrounded by the people she loves most in the world, Hotaru is sure that she has never been happier in her life..._

..._Hotaru is playing with Chibi-Chibi and Luna, when she senses something horrible. She gets up, quickly transforms into Sailor Saturn, and teleports to Charon Castle on Pluto, looking for Sailor Pluto. Upon finding her, she instantly knows the danger she sensed: Pluto is fighting a losing battle with Galaxia. Swiftly joining the fray, Saturn attempts to bring her power to bear against this strongest of foes, but Galaxia shrugs off every attack like it was nothing. After another few minutes of toying with them, Galaxia thrusts her arms out, and Saturn can feel her body being ripped apart. She prays that her Princess will defeat this villain and protect their world, as her body disintegrates, without even leaving her enough time to scream..._

_-----_

In Valinor, in the region of Lórien, the four humans are tended by the Valar Estë, healer of hurts and of weariness. Through her power their lives are sustained throughout the centuries of their coma, their physical appearance tended to by Elven healers. As time passes, a curious thing happens: after thirty years, the four bodies emit a brilliant red light. Forty-two years later, they blaze again, this time in bright gold. After yet another seventeen years, they flare up in incandescent blue, and finally, after an interlude of nearly 3000 years, they glow with a radiant violet light...

...and wake up.

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End file.
